It is common that people, especially frail elderly people and diabetics, experience a variety of lower leg, ankle, and foot injuries. Physicians traditionally have treated, and still currently treat, injuries such as pressure ulcers affecting the foot by fitting the injured patient with the well-known, molded plaster or resin cast. The placement of this type of cast is time consuming, heavy, and costly. Further, this type of cast must not come into contact with water, which makes patient bathing difficult and time consuming. Additionally, if the cast needs to be removed for any reason, for example, inspection, a whole new cast must be prepared and applied.
Alternatively, walking boots or walkers have been used for protecting and immobilizing injured or affected areas of the lower leg, ankle, and/or foot, such that at least partial mobility may be maintained while the affected areas are in the process of healing. Further, in contrast to the molded plaster or resin cast, a walker can be easily removed in order to bathe or for inspection of the injured limb by a physician or practitioner.
Existing wrap-around or circumferential walkers however can be bulky and uncomfortable for users. Particularly, hard edges and/or surfaces of existing walkers can cause pressure points on the user's toes, feet, ankle, and/or lower leg that can cause users pain and discomfort, and may also cause injury to a user, such as pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers can become infected, contain scar tissue, and may result in secondary problems up to and including amputation.
Alternatively, existing walkers may include inflatable supports for improving the comfort of the walker, but these inflatable supports can be more harmful than helpful. Particularly, existing walkers require the user to regulate or control the pressure level in the inflatable supports. This is problematic because patients, especially those with diabetes, often experience reduced sensation in their extremities, which can result in them inadvertently overinflating the inflatable supports. Over-inflation of the inflatable supports can cause pressure on the skin which can reduce both capillary blood flow to the skin and arterial flow to the affected limb. It can also lead to the formation of pressure ulcers on the foot of the patient and longer healing times for existing ulcers. Further, existing walkers with inflatable supports often require patients to monitor pressure levels in the inflatable supports with a pressure gauge. However, many patients do not see well enough to read the pressure gauges and such pressure gauges are also known to malfunction.
Additionally, features associated with the inflatable supports in existing walkers are known to create pressure points within the walker and/or to be unreliable. For instance, tubing associated with the inflatable supports is typically routed along the inside surface of the walker, creating pressure points on the inside of the walker, which can be uncomfortable and can cause additional pressure ulcers. Moreover, such tubing can become kinked and/or pinched between the walker and the patient's lower leg, ankle, and/or foot, rendering the inflatable supports effectively inoperable. Pump features associated with the inflatable supports are also commonly arranged on the walker such that they are prone to being bumped, misaligned, and/or damaged during use, increasing the likelihood that the inflatable supports will be inadvertently inflated, deflated, and/or rendered inoperable.